Device for mechanically extracting fibers from the stems of textile plants



Dec. 24, 1957 A. ANGIOLINI ETAL ,817,

DEVICE FOR MECHANICALLY EXTRACTING FIBERS FROM THE STEMS OF TEXTILE PLANTS Filed June 21, 1954 s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS 5 A, ANGIOLINI g. 1 R. BARBUT! ATTORNEYS Dec. 24, 1957 A. ANGlOLlNI ET AL 2,817,119

DEVICE FOR MECHANICALLY EXTRACTING FIBERS FROM THE STEMS OF TEXTILE PLANTS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 21, 1954 1 INVENTORS A. ANGIOLINI 8.

R BARBUTI ATTORNEYS Dec. 24, 1957 A. ANGIOLINI ET AL 2,817,119

DEVICE FOR MECHANICALLY EXTRACTING FIBERS FROM THE STEMS 0F TEXTILE PLANTS ma June 21, 1954 5 sneet s-sneet 5 INVENTORS A. -ANGIOLINI &

R. BARBUT! ATTORNEYS United Aristide Angiolini, Rome, and Renzo Barbuti, Pisa, Italy,

assignors to Antonio Picciati, Rome, Italy Application June 21, 1954, Serial No. 438,228

Claims. (Cl. 19-24) The present invention relates to apparatus for mechanically extracting the fibers from the stems offiber plants.

This invention provides apparatus mainly for the treatment of non-retted plants, at a normal dryness, but can be used also for treating retted plants.

The purpose of this invention, among others, is that of wholly recovering all of the fibers contained in the plants, and avoiding an appreciable production of tows. The filamentous product obtained by a single passage of the raw material into the machine, has characteristics similar to those shown by the ravellings produced by the known process of the rustic retting; i. e. a long fibered material is obtained, wherein the fibers are divided and are free of all of the tissues extraneous to the ravellings and are also free of a remarkable. portion of the pectic matter.

The apparatus according to this invention comprises a series of similar groups of working members, each of which comprises six. rollers, arranged in three pairs, the pairs. on the extremities of the group being smooth and having respectively the function of feeding and of keeping under tension the stems. The central pair is formed by fluted cylinders, i. e. by cylinders provided with flutes longitudinally disposed, said cylinders being mounted for rotary movement, during which the flutes engage with each other without bottoming. These flutes in their motion, submit the stems, at each point thereof, to a continuous vibrating action, which, in addition to the friction between the stems and fluted cylinder, breaks and removes all of the tissues extraneous to the fibers, and pulverizes the pectic matter.

Each group of working membersis completed by' guide meansfor guiding the stems into the first group and for guiding said stems from one group to the others; byrneans for removing the extraneous matter and the treated fiber; by means for. operating the various moving parts and by means for automatically adjusting the distance between the axes of the smooth rollers according to the thickness of the ribbon of the stems, and for' adjusting'the mutual angular position of the flutes of the fiuted cylinders. One characteristic feature of the device according to this invention resides in that the peripheral speed of the fluted cylinders of each group of working members, varies from one group to theother, increasing from the first to thelast group. Specifically, the peripheral speed of the first group of fluted cylinders is about 4 m./sec. and the peripheral speed of the fluted cylinders of the last group is about 10 m./sec-.

This way, thestems are submitted to vibrations the frequency of which-is continually increased, and there atnt ice

The peripheral speed of the smooth rollers in each group is about 13 meters per minute. In the machine according to this invention, the various working groups cause the fiber to follow an almost vertical path, which is an essential feature of this invention. As a matter of fact, motion of the fibers along a non-vertical path, while they are submitted to the action of the fluted cylinders, would submit the fibers to the force of gravity which would prejudicially affect the parallelism of the fibers. Furthermore the vertical movement of the fibers allows the total removal of the particles of crushed wood which is prevented from falling on the ribbon of treated fibers.

The passage of the fibers from one group of working members to the other is guided by means of mouths, made for instance of sheet metal and having a frusto-pyramided shape, the width of the mouths decreasing from the first to the last group of working members, thus increasing the thickness of the ribbon of fibers. The relative movement of the various layers of said ribbon, owing to the deflections which occur during the passage through the fluted cylinders, is greater the greater is the thickness of said ribbon and therefore these movements augment the increase of the peripheral speed of the fluted cylinders to make the fibers free of the encrusting substances.

The diminution of the width of the ribbon of fibers from the first to the last guide mouth amounts to 20% for the oil flax; 30% for the rami and the harl flax; 40% for the jute and kenaf; 60% for the hemp.

This invention will be better understood from the following description taken with reference to the attached drawings wherein is shown a preferred form of embodiment of the machine.

Fig. 1 shows a side elevation of the machine, with one side and the parts thereon removed;

Fig. 2 shows a detailed perspective view, partially in cross-section of the mouth for introducing the stems into themachine;

Fig. 3 shows a detailed elevation view of one of the pairs of feeding rollers which is part of the working groups;

Fig. 4 is. a cross-section taken along the line IVIV of Fig- 3 Fig. 5 is a cross-section of one of the fluted cylinders;

Figs. 6 and 7 show, respectively in side elevation and in plan view, a detail of the device for angularly adjusting the position of the flutes of the fluted cylinders, and

Fig. 8 shows a detail of one of the mouths for the passage of the fibers from one group of working mem bers to the other.

With reference to the drawings, the machine according'to this invention is substantially formed by a frame 21 made of sheet metal and beams, the sides of which contain and support the bearings (not shown in Fig. 1) wherein there are journalled all of the cylinders forming the working members.

In Fig. 1, 15 indicates a small door to the apparatus, 20 is a fioor for the worker which attends to theapparatus and 16 is a ladder to the floor 20.

In the upper portion of the machine a device 1 (Figs. 1 and 2) is provided which comprises a feeding plane and a mouth for the introduction of the fibers towards the working members.

Underneath the last group of working members there is arranged an endless moving conveyor belt 12, for the removal of the finished product.

The machine is completed by an exhauster 14 for eliminating the working residues, as wood boons and the duct, and by an engine 13 which actuates all the moving parts of the apparatus.

The material is introduced into the device throughthe mouth 1 (Figs. l and 2) after which said material is taken by a pair of smooth steel cylinders 2, one of which is pressed on the other by an adjustable spring. Said first pair of cylinders has the purpose of beginning the crushing of the stems to be treated in order to prepare same for the subsequent treatment in the working groups which will be described hereinafter.

Beyond the pair of cylinders 2, the stems are passed by a guide mouth 7, into a second pair of cylinders 3, which are smooth and made of steel, which second pair of cylinders complete the crushing action on the stems. The distance of the axes of the cylinders 3 from each other is fixed so as to produce a ribbon of crushed stems having a constant thickness.

Both the aforesaid pairs of cylinders are operated by a mutual rigid engagement of end gears.

After passing through the pair of cylinders 3, through the gulde mouth 8, the stems pass into the first group of working members, generally indicated by A in Fig. 1, through the mouths 9 and 10, and through the other groups of working members, which are similar to each other and wherein fluted cylinders rotate at a peripheral speed which increases from the first group to the last group, as aforesaid, each of said groups being shown as a whole, by the reference characters B, C, D and E.

Each of the working groups is formed of two pairs of smooth rollers and one pair of fluted cylinders; the pairs of smooth rollers are in outer positions and are the same as each other and between them there is arranged the pair of fluted cylinders which carry out the vibration and the defibring of the stems.

Each of the outer pairs comprises a roller 4, made of steel and coated with rubber or with a similar elastic matter, and a roller made of smooth steel. Roller 4 is pressed against the roller 5 by a cam device which is shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4.

In Fig. 3, 22 is the side of the machine, wherein the shaft of the roller 5 is mounted. The shaft of the roller 4 is journalled within the cam 23 which, in turn, is supported by said side 22. The cam 23 is fastened, for instance by three screws, to a lever 24 at the end of which there is connected the spring 25, which is fixed to the side 22 by the bolt 26. Any action tending to move the shaft of the roller 4 away from the shaft of the roller 5, produces an angular movement of the lever 24, since the center of rotation of the latter lever is eccentric with respect to that of the cylinder 4. Hence, the spring 25 always urges the cylinder 4 toward the cylinder 5 while permitting a variation of the distance between the axes of the two rollers due to the passage of the fibrous matter.

The two rollers are actuated by means of gears 27 and 28 which transmit the motion of the cylinder 5 to the cylinder 4. On the shaft of the gear 28, i. e. on the shaft of the roller 5, there is also mounted a sprocket 29, through which a chain 30 operated by the engine 13 through a driving device not shown in the figure rotates rollers 4 and 5.

In each group of working members the first pair of rollers 4 and 5 acts as feeding rollers and the second pair of rollers 4 and 5 acts as tensioning rollers; between said two pairs there is arranged the pair of fluted cylinders 6 (Figs. 1, 5, 6 and 7) which carry out the defibring of the stems. Each cylinder 6, made of hardened steel, carries on its periphery a plurality of flutes 38 having a thin crosssection and a rounded edge, said flutes being arranged parallel to the generatrices of the cylinders.

The two cylinders are identical and during their revolution the flutes mate Without bottoming. The distance between the axes of the cylinders varies according to the type of plant to be treated, but in each machine constructed for the treatment of a determined plant, this distance is fixed.

On the contrary it is possible to adjust the angular position of the flutes of one cylinder with respect to the position of the flutes of the other cylinder. Figs. 6 and 7 show, in two different views, the device whereby said adjustment is carried out.

The gear 31, fastened to the shaft of one of the rollers 6, is actuated by the motor 13, through the chain 32. The gears 33 and 34, the former being mounted on the shaft supporting the gear 31, the latter being mounted on the shaft of the other cylinder 6, engage with each other and rotate the two cylinders 6 at the same speed. However, the gear 33 is fixed to the shaft of the first cylinder, while the gear 34 is mounted freely on the shaft of the second fluted cylinder and moves the latter by means of a projecting block 35, integral with said gear, said block being inserted between two adjustable screws 36 arranged in the arms of a stirrup 37 fastened to the shaft of the corresponding fluted cylinder. Obviously, by adjusting the position of the screws 36, the ends of which bear on the block 35, angular displacements of the stirrup 37 with respect to the gear 34 are obtained, and thus an angular displacement of one of the cylinders 6 with respect to the other is obtained.

As aforesaid, the peripheral speed of the cylinders 6 of the group A is about 4 m./sec., and said speed increases from one group to the other until it becomes about 10 m./ sec. in the group E. At the exit from the last working group there is arranged the conveyor belt 12 which removes the treated product from the machine, while the discarded matter falls in the space between the sheets 18 and 19 and is conveyed to the lower hoppers 17 wherefrom it is removed by the exhauster 14.

In Fig. 1, 11 are tie-rods for spacing the sides of the machines; some of them also support the mouths guiding the passage of the stems to be treated from one working group to the other. Fig. 8 shows the detail of one of said mouths, shaped as a frusto-pyramid, the minor basis of which is turned in the direction towards which the material to be treated is fed.

It is also to be noted that the various working groups are so arranged to afford a substantially vertical path for the stems during their treatment.

The two groups of cylinders 2 and 3, which are near to the entrance of the machine have not only the purpose of crushing the stems, but also the purpose of causing the substantial horizontal direction of the stems to become vertical when the stems reach the working groups, without causing excessive deflections of the stems which could break the fibers.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for mechanically extracting the fibers from the stems of the textile plants which comprises, in combination, a plurality of groups of Working members disposed in a substantially vertical superposed position, a feeding plane for feeding the stem material in substantially horizontal direction, stem crushing means interposed between said feeding plane and said plurality of groups, said means being arranged to pass the material from the horizontal to the vertical direction, each group of working members comprising a pair of fluted cylinders provided with flutes which interengage without bottoming, a first pair of smooth rollers feeding the crushed material to the pair of fluted cylinders, a second pair of smooth rollers receiving the material from the pair of fluted cylinders and passing the material to the first pair of smooth rollers of the successive group, a guide mouth arranged to convey the material coming from the said crushing means to the first pair of smooth rollers of the first group, a guide mouth interposed between each of the successive groups of working members to convey the material from the second pair of smooth rollers of each group to the first pair of smooth rollers of the successive group, a casing containing said crushing means and said working groups, said casing being formed in its lower part as a hopper to receive the encrusting substances separated from the material, an exhauster operatively associated to said hopper to remove said incrusting substances, a conveyor belt operatively associated underneath and to said casing to receive the fibers obtained from the material treated by said working groups and to remove same from the apparatus, and a motor operating the smooth rollers in all of said Working groups at the same peripheral speed and operating the fluted cylinders at peripheral speeds increasing from the first to the last working group and greater than the peripheral speed of said smooth rollers, said motor also operating said crushing means, said exhauster and said conveyor belt.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the crushing means for the stem material, arranged to pass the material from the horizontal to the vertical direction, comprise two pairs of crushing cylinders counter-rotating in each pair, a guide mouth interposed between said two pairs of crushing cylinders, said crushing cylinders and said guide mouth being arranged to convey the material along a curved path, the distance between the axes of the cylinders in the first pair of the crushing cylinders in the direction of feeding being variable, the shaft of one of the cylinders of the said first pair being subject to the action of a spring, the distance of the cylinders in the second pair of the said crushing cylinders being constant whereby a ribbon of crushed stems is obtained having a constant thickness.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the peripheral speed of the smooth rollers in each working group is about 13 meters per minute, while the peripheral speed of the fluted cylinders progressively increases from 4 m./ sec in the first group to 10 m./sec. in the last group, whereby in each group the first and the second pair of smooth rollers keep the fibers under tension while the fibers are subject to the vibrating action of the fluted cylinders.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein each pair of smooth rollers in each working group comprises a ill metal roller coated with rubber and said apparatus further comprises resilient means permitting variation of the distance between the axes of the two rollers due to the passage of material between them, said resilient means comprising a cam mounted on a side of the apparatus on which cam the shaft of one of the two rollers is journalled, said cam being provided with a lever and a spring fixed to one side of the apparatus and said lever.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the pair of fluted cylinders in each working group a device is provided controlling the angular position of one fluted cylinder with respect to the other said device comprising a gear mounted freely on the shaft of the first fluted cylinder, a block projecting from said gear, a stirrup applied to the shaft of the first cylinder, said stirrup being provided with two arms each having an adjusting screw, said block being arranged between said adjusting screws, whereby said gear is connected in an angularly adjustable manner to the said first cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 317,675 Russell May 12, 1885 852,399 Richards Apr. 30, 1907 987,342 Brolin Mar. 21, 1911 1,132,122 Roberts Mar. 16, 1915 1,241,703 Bonny Oct. 2, 1917 1,722,110 Pritchard July 23, 1929 2,208,287 Cochrane July 16, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,634 Great Britain of 1888 278,732 Germany Oct. 3, 1914 

